{"id":423,"date":"2010-03-18T18:10:48","date_gmt":"2010-03-18T23:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/?p=423"},"modified":"2010-03-20T16:13:46","modified_gmt":"2010-03-20T21:13:46","slug":"general-george-washington-a-military-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2010\/03\/general-george-washington-a-military-life\/","title":{"rendered":"General George Washington: A Military Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I am almost embarrassed by the way I got sucked into General George Washington: A Military Life<\/a> by Edward G. Lengel. I listened to it and was stricken by the frequent descriptions of President Washington’s physicality. I don’t have a problem thinking of these men, the presidents, as flesh-and-bones people. Just ask my writing group who have been subjected to some poetry of mine on the topic. But this was distracting. I was taken aback by it, perhaps because this book is about Washington’s military history. On second thought, perhaps it makes more sense to hear these very visceral descriptions on this context. For the individual, the battlefield is very much about the body, and preservation of it.<\/p>\n

I am glad that I listened to this book. It made me want to learn more about a some others of the era. Patrick Henry, Benjamin Rush, “Mad” Anthony Wayne are among them.<\/p>\n

Reading about these guys always brings some perspective with it. George Washington, in his military pursuits, along with most of the continentals from this era basically had to learn on the job in these life-or-death times. \u00a0How’s that for pressure?<\/p>\n

I will never again be able to think about horses without thinking about George Washington and the American Revolution. As always, I found myself fascinated by the language and diction of those from a different era. When I think about the way that the founders spoke, occasionally, I find myself swept away by their romantic use of language. There are so many snippets of phrasing that I want to write down just so that I can refer back to them. Washington’s quotes that involve the concept of “manliness” are of those. However, one of the touching quotes that I loved was this: “I have <\/em>grown gray in your service<\/em> and now find myself growing blind.” <\/em>Here, we see Washington as a man not invincible to the effects of time. Makes you want to hug him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am almost embarrassed by the way I got sucked into General George Washington: A Military Life by Edward G. Lengel. I listened to it and was stricken by the frequent descriptions of President Washington’s physicality. I don’t have a problem thinking of these men, the presidents, as flesh-and-bones people. Just ask my writing group… Continue reading General George Washington: A Military Life<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[64,63],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-books","tag-presidents","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p33KTw-6P","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2300,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2013\/03\/the-cherry-chopper\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":0},"title":"The Cherry Chopper","author":"sherlonya","date":"March 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"George Washington is probably the first president most of us remember learning about. There are so many myths that surround him. I was asked about whether this cupcake would feature splinters, a reference to his alleged wooden teeth. Even the Cosby Show got in on the George Washington game in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Cakes\"","block_context":{"text":"Cakes","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/tag\/cakes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_3556","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/headofstatecakes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_3556-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/headofstatecakes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_3556-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/headofstatecakes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_3556-300x224.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2309,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2013\/04\/the-good-feelings\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":1},"title":"The Good Feelings","author":"sherlonya","date":"April 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"James Monroe was the final founders-generation president. He was also the fourth Virginian to hold the nation\u2019s highest office. Monroe is perhaps best known for the Monroe Doctrine. Back in 1823, Monroe made a speech where he said, \u201cthat the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"buttercream\"","block_context":{"text":"buttercream","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/tag\/buttercream\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Monroe1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/headofstatecakes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Monroe1.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2301,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2013\/03\/welcome-to-head-of-state-cakes\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":2},"title":"Welcome to Head of State Cakes","author":"sherlonya","date":"March 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This page will be a playground where I combine my love for baking with my love for the US presidents. For more specifics about what this means, check out my about page. In the meanwhile, I leave you to imagine what my cupcake tribute to George Washing...","rel":"","context":"In \"about\"","block_context":{"text":"about","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/tag\/about\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"presidential-seal","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/headofstatecakes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/presidential-seal-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3028,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2013\/12\/whos-your-founding-father\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":3},"title":"Who’s your founding father?","author":"admin","date":"December 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I really don't believe that the Honda commercial that came out last year around Presidents Day persuaded me to buy a Honda. However, sometimes when I approach my car, I hear that commercial in my mind, even though I think George Washington would disapprove of it. I think that Lincoln,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"bag\"","block_context":{"text":"bag","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/tag\/bag\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/presidentbag.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3645,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2014\/09\/herbert-hoover-here-i-come\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":4},"title":"Herbert Hoover, Here I Come…","author":"admin","date":"September 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Above, my friends, is one heck of a Herbert Hoover collage. Even a president aficionado (as I was called when I visited the Theodore Roosevelt Inauguration site), was taken aback by all of that Hooverness. This weekend I'll be meeting a friend at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "obsessions"","block_context":{"text":"obsessions","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/category\/obsessions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Hoover.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4459,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2015\/03\/the-decision-point\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":5},"title":"The Decision Point","author":"admin","date":"March 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"As I\u2019ve gotten closer, and closer to the present, it has become more of a challenge to figure out how to approach these cupcakes. This is more true for the last two presidents. In the preface to the book The Faiths of the Postwar Presidents, David Holmes says, \u201cNo president\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "baking"","block_context":{"text":"baking","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/category\/baking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"wbush1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/headofstatecakes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/wbush1.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":455,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}